Skirt Through History, A

Synopsis

A drama-documentary series on the lives of ten extraordinary women told through their writings, which offer a woman’s view of history.
1 (director Philippa Lowthorpe): Anne Lister was born in 1791 and owned an estate in Halifax. Her journal reveals a secret life as a passionate lesbian.
2 (director Kate Broome): Victorian editor Emile Peacocke founded the first newspaper run by and for women in 1858, and 50 years later Bessie Parkes became one of the first women reporters to work in Fleet Street. They both faced prejudice and discrimination throughout their careers.
3 (director Philippa Lowthorpe): Dr James Miranda Stuart Barry lived most of her life disguised as a man in order to pursue a career in medicine. Hannah Cullwick was befriended by a poet who wished to use her in studies of working-class women and she turned into a high-class lady.
4 (director Kate Broome): Ethel Smyth, a composer, critically acclaimed outside her native Britain, and Sarah Bennett, who fought to improve the working conditions of the poor in the Staffordshire potteries, shared neighbouring cells in Holloway Prison as a result of their suffragette activities.
5 (director Deborah Wignall): Artemia Gentileschi was a painter who in 1612 accused a fellow artist of rape. The trial verdict is missing from the Vatican archives, but Gentileschi was forced to leave Rome after the trial.
6 (director Penny Woolcock): The only two British women to write first-hand accounts of slavery: Mary Prince, who was born into slavery in 1788 and left her owners after moving to London, and Lady Maria Nugent, the wife of a slave owner in Jamaica 1801.

Language

English

Country

Great Britain

Medium

Video; Videocassette. VHS. col. 6 x 30 min.

Year of production

1994

Availability

Sale; 1996 sale: £65.00 (+VAT +p&p) each 1996 sale: £240.00 (+VAT +p&p) set

Notes

Broadcast on BBC2 from 6/5/94. Each episode is available separately at £195.00 (+VAT, +P&P)

Subjects

History; Women’s studies

Keywords

Barry, James Miranda Stuart; Bennett, Sarah; biographies; Cullwick Hannah; Gentileschi, Artemsia; homosexuality; Lister, Anne; Nugent, Maria; Parkes, Bessie; Peacocke, Emile; Prince, Mary; Smyth, Ethel; women artists; women’s issues

Credits

Director

Deborah Wignall; Kate Broome; Penny Woolcock; Philippa Lowthorpe

Contributor

Philippa Lowthorpe

Distribution Formats

Type

DVD

Format

Region 2 PAL

Price

£1,170

Availability

Sale

Year

2012

Sections

Title

Marriage, A

Synopsis

1 (director Philippa Lowthorpe): Anne Lister was born in 1791 and owned an estate in Halifax. Her journal reveals a secret life as a passionate lesbian.

Title

Lady’s portion, A

Synopsis

2 (director Kate Broome): Victorian editor Emile Peacocke founded the first newspaper run by and for women in 1858, and 50 years later Bessie Parkes became one of the first women reporters to work in Fleet Street. They both faced prejudice and discriminat

Title

Experiment, An

Synopsis

3 (director Philippa Lowthorpe): Dr James Miranda Stuart Barry lived most of her life disguised as a man in order to pursue a career in medicine. Hannah Cullwick was befriended by a poet who wished to use her in studies of working-class women and she turn

Title

Wreckers, The

Synopsis

4 (director Kate Broome): Ethel Smyth, a composer, critically acclaimed outside her native Britain, and Sarah Bennett, who fought to improve the working conditions of the poor in the Staffordshire potteries, shared neighbouring cells in Holloway Prison as

Title

Reputation, A

Synopsis

5 (director Deborah Wignall): Artemia Gentileschi was a painter who in 1612 accused a fellow artist of rape. The trial verdict is missing from the Vatican archives, but Gentileschi was forced to leave Rome after the trial.

Title

Two Marys, The

Synopsis

6 (director Penny Woolcock): The only two British women to write first-hand accounts of slavery: Mary Prince, who was born into slavery in 1788 and left her owners after moving to London, and Lady Maria Nugent, the wife of a slave owner in Jamaica 1801.

Production Company

Name

BBC Television

Distributor

Name

BBC Active Video for Learning - now BBC Learning

Contact

Carolina Fernandez Jeremy Wilcox (CF - for educational enquiries JW - channel sales manager)

Email

BBCStudiosLearning@bbc.com

Web

https://www.bbcstudioslearning.com/ External site opens in new window

Phone

+44 (0) 20 8433 1009

Address

BBC Studios Limited
Television Centre
101 Wood Lane
London
W12 7FA
UK

Notes

The BBC Active company has now been absorbed within BBC Learning, a division of BBC Studios. It was originally a joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Pearson Education. Formerly known as ‘BBC Worldwide Learning Studies’ and before that as ‘Videos for Education & Training’